Invading kudzu bugs spread

The good news is, we can kill them. The bad news, it’ll cost us. And the damage they do in the meantime will cost even more. Kudzu bugs, first discovered northeast of Atlanta three years ago, have swept through Georgia and the Carolinas. The invading Asian insects leave destruction in their wake, especially to soybeans, a staple crop for farmers. For that reason, entomologist Jeremy Greene hosted a national conference last week at Clemson’s Edisto Research and Education Center in Blackville. The conference drew agricultural scientists and experts who plan to counterattack, but it won’t be easy. Timing pesticide sprays is tricky, for the insects reproduce in such large numbers and move about freely.